El Mitad del Mundo and Pijal!

                Early(ish) in the morning we got ready and packed up to leave for Pijal, the village we would be spending the next six nights in. We spent a night or two there last time we were in Ecuador, and it was pretty nerve wrecking the first time. People seemed pretty nervous this time as well. I think the most stressful part, for at least some of them, is the language barriers. I was in the same boat last time we came, and I hope they realize that you can communicate through so much more than just words.

                I am excited to go back, I think partially because I’m more comfortable with speaking a language badly. My Spanish, is pretty rough. I discovered I have forgotten most of my verb conjugations and can only talk in the present tense. And that’s if I remember the right endings for those verbs. But after spending time in Morocco and India and speaking ZERO words, I’m more okay with butchering my way through a sentence or two. They usually (usually being the key word) understand what I’m trying to say. It’s exciting to go back and revisit people I’ve spent time with before.

        Fake Equator :)

Casual nap between the sidewalk and a shrub?

Real equator!

This my friends, is the pet from your childhood. The Guinea pig. 

     

                We arrived at Pijal shortly after and were greeted by a very excited bunch of people. One of the most exciting parts was when my host mom from last time, Isabel, remembered me. It was nice to know that she remembered me even though we only lived with her for two nights. There were a couple of other people, including Don Antonio, the head of the organization, who recalled Jess and I from last time. They seemed particularly happy that we returned. My host mom this time was a woman named Lucia. She hosts the Inti Rymi festival and hosted the three boys last trip. This time, it was myself, Asha and Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn spoke no Spanish. Asha had learned verbally from living in Boston and having Spanish speaking friends. She could make sentences but had limited vocab, I had vocab and an inability to make sentences. We made a great team. We had a pretty good conversation over dinner and it seems like it is going to be a good homestay. She let us help clean up as well, which was nice, because it can be uncomfortable when you feel like you can’t help out. It, at least for me, was a great start to the trip.